Knicks' Jalen Brunson scores 42 points to beat Nuggets in 2OT for 8th straight win

Jalen Brunson may not go for the LeBron James method of shutting down all social media at times, and with the trade deadline approaching the Knicks captain is certainly aware of all that is swirling around the NBA.

But ask him about the trades that are shifting rosters, and possibly fortunes, and Brunson is direct.

“Just focused on us,” he said.

And why not? That focus had helped the Knicks to an eighth straight win, this one as impressive as any in the run against a Denver Nuggets team back at full strength, winning, 134-127, in double overtime at Madison Square Garden.

What the Knicks had not needed throughout this winning streak was what they have relied on so many times in recent years: Brunson to save them. But on this night, with Josh Hart sidelined by an ankle injury, Karl-Anthony Towns fouling out in the first overtime and a hero needed, Brunson delivered, pouring in 42 points.

The Knicks carried a seven-game winning streak into the Garden Wednesday night — and a one-sided streak, ESPN reporting that the 173-point margin over victory totaled over that span the largest for a seven-game span in franchise history.

But that, and the Knicks expected silence at the trade deadline which comes Thursday at 3 p.m., left them not really tested of late, other than ignoring the noise around them. Starting with this night, the Knicks are straddling the deadline with a three-game stretch which could reveal just how good this group can be without a change. The Knicks travel to Detroit to face the Pistons, who are not just solidly in first place in the Eastern Conference, but dominated the Knicks a month ago. The Knicks then head to Boston for a Sunday afternoon game against the Celtics.

It began with the Knicks on a second night of a back-to-back, shorthanded and clearly in a war. Towns had a collision, going to the floor with blood dripping down from a cut above his right eye. He got a temporary fix, hit a pair of free throws so he could return to the game and went to the locker room to get stitches. He returned to an ovation from the crowd as he immediately attacked Nikola Jokic, finishing the night with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

But it was Brunson who would deliver time after time when the Knicks needed it most.

“MVP’s, they make the game easy for their teammates while getting theirs the right way without shooting it all the time,” Mike Brown said. “It’s evident that he did that. He made the game easy for his teammates tonight because they had to double him all night and he still was able to make plays and his teammates, when they did double, they spaced the floor the right way and made shots. They definitely did a great job helping out, but what an MVP performance on a big stage, a national stage, on a back-to-back situation against a really good team."

The Knicks had so many chances to put this away, but a combination of their own miscues and misfires, Denver’s heroics and some shaky officiating brought the game into a second overtime.

They had to survive a 30-point, 14-rebound, 10-assist triple-double by Jokic, although he shot just 1-for-13 beyond the arc and on a handful of possessions found Mitchell Robinson defending him as well as anyone can. Jamal Murray scored 39 for Denver.

The Knicks had a chance to win it in regulation, and so did the Nuggets. Brunson missed a fadeaway jumper at the top of the key with 2.5 seconds left and Jokic had a long three at the buzzer bounce off the backboard and almost went in before bouncing off the rim. And after Towns gave the Knicks a two-point lead with 1:01 left in regulation both teams went scoreless and the Knicks appeared to have the game secured when Murray misfired on a there-point attempt as time expired. But a loose ball foul was called on Mikal Bridges as he attempted to box out Christian Braun, sending Braun to the line with .3 seconds remaining. He hit both free throws to send the game into a second overtime session.

Brunson got the Knicks the lead in the second extra session, then he found Landry Shamet for a layup and the Knicks opened the lead to 130-123 when Bridges, who had just two points to this moment, delivered a corner three with 1:25 remaining. Up by six, OG Anunoby’s drive and dunk bounded off the rim and Tim Hardaway Jr. drained a three to make it a one-possession game again. But Brunson came through again, dropping in a short jumper on the baseline with 30.8 left.

It’s not hard to believe in this group as they have ranked first, by a large margin, in defensive rating in the NBA over that seven-game winning streak and second by a fraction in offensive rating.

They have done it in a different way than last season, not relying on the heroics offensively of Brunson, at least until this night. It’s been shared production on that end and a much-improved effort on defense. It is on that end where Brunson has provided a boost — earning his first defensive player of the game honor from the coaching staff as he took two charges against Washington Tuesday, taking over the NBA lead in that category with 15.

Asked what the reaction of his teammates was when he got the honor, he said, “Very surprised. And so was I.”

If the Knicks aren’t going to answer the rumors and come up with some added star power, remaking their roster in midstream, they will need that, the little bit of help everywhere on both ends of the court.

Notes & quotes: Hart was held out Wednesday with a left ankle injury suffered in the third quarter Tuesday . . . Deuce McBride missed his fifth straight game with what the team has called left ankle injury management. He originally injured the ankle on Dec. 7 and sat out eight games before returning to action, but has been sidelined again as soreness has persisted.

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.